Following Lincoln’s assassination, the emancipation of enslaved people became official when: a.states ratified the Thirteenth Amendment.
the ratification of the thirteenth amendment stated that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States"
Before this ratification, the act of slavery was seen as negative way but the there was no law that punishes the people from doing it. With this ratification, People who own slaves will be processed and punished by the law.
